The Power of Pop

Since the dawn of pop music, teenagers have been empowered in their journeys towards self-acceptance at the concerts of their idols, says Conor Behan. That’s why the bombing at Ariana Grande’s concert in Manchester, which celebrated same-sex love, was all the more cruel.

When I was 16 years old I saw Christina Aguilera in Dublin. It was my first ever concert and I was surrounded mostly by young women who loved her the way I did, who whooped and cheered as her male dancer performed an elaborate striptease mid-show. It was the first time I ever let myself admire a man publicly. For this gay teenager, it was a heady experience and one of the countless times I used the pop stars I loved, both as an escape and a way to imagine something different for myself when I was older.

About GCN

The brand new Dublin Pride issue of GCN features a stunning cover image by London-Irish writer and photographer, PP Hartnett, and an interview about interrogating the flip side of the gay community through his work. We also talk to maverick trans rapper, Mykki Blanco about his life post abandoning Trump’s America. Will Vladimir Putin go to war with Chechnya over the region's gay purge? We analyse the situation. Our editor goes to New York to attend a meeting of Gays Against Guns, one year on from the Pulse massacre in Orlando. We meet Irish HIV activists who are taking inspiration from the fierce examples set by ACT UP NYC at the peak of the AIDS crisis, and we talk to Joni Crone, the first ever lesbian to appear on The Late Late Show in 1980 for a legendary interview. And that’s just a flavour of what we’ve got in store for you this month!